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IAF pummels Gaza after Grad rocket hits Beersheba ‎home

by  Nikki Guttman , Lilach Shoval , News Agencies and ILH Staff
Published on  10-17-2018 00:00
Last modified: 11-24-2021 14:31
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Israeli fighter jets struck Hamas positions in the ‎Gaza Strip on Wednesday after a Grad rocket fired from Gaza hit a house in the major Israeli city ‎of Beersheba, 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the ‎Gaza border.‎

Rocket alert sirens blared across Israeli communities near the border at ‎3:40 a.m., seconds before two projectiles ‎breached Israeli airspace. ‎

One rocket hit the house in Beersheba. A ‎woman and her three children were rescued from the house suffering ‎from shock and minor injuries. ‎

One Israeli official said that it was "only by miracle" that the family escaped with their lives. The rocket strike ‎caused extensive damage to the building and several ‎neighboring homes.

He credited ‎the mother for following Homefront Command orders to immediately seek ‎shelter, saying that she saved her and her children's ‎lives.

Two other people were treated for minor injuries caused as they were running for shelter, a ‎Magen David Adom emergency services spokesman said.‎

A defense official later said the rocket that hit ‎the home was packed with 20 kilograms ‎‎(44 pounds) of explosives. The building may have to be ‎condemned, he said. ‎

The damaged Beersheba home after being struck by a rocket, Wednesday

The second rocket landed in the ocean, off the Israeli coast, the IDF said.‎

Following the attack, Beersheba Mayor Ruvik ‎Danilovich canceled school for the day in ‎the city. The ‎Homefront Command barred residents in communities ‎near the border from gathering in groups larger ‎than 300 people ‎outdoors and 500 people indoors.‎

‎'Hamas is responsible' ‎

IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis said the military struck 20 terrorist targets, including ‎underground infrastructure, Hamas bases, weapon and ‎rocket mills, as well as an undersea terror tunnel.‎

‎"There are only two groups in Gaza that have Grad rockets: ‎Hamas and Islamic Jihad," Manelis said.

"It doesn't ‎matter who fired. Hamas, as the sovereign entity in ‎Gaza, is responsible."‎

The IDF Spokesperson's Unit later released a video ‎showing a Gaza terrorist being eliminated as he was ‎preparing to fire a rocket at Israel. ‎

Gaza's health ministry said one man was killed ‎and four others were wounded in an Israeli airstrike ‎in northern Gaza. ‎

Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad declared Wednesday that ‎it was not their operatives who fired the rockets. ‎

A Hamas statement denounced "the ‎irresponsible attempt to derail the Egyptian ‎efforts, including this rocket fire."‎

The statement was referring to long-running Egyptian ‎attempts to broker a long-term cease-fire between ‎Israel and Hamas in an effort to prevent ‎tensions from escalating into a full-fledged war. ‎

Egyptian General Intelligence Service head Maj. Gen. ‎Abbas Kamel is expected to embark on a shuttle ‎diplomacy mission between Jerusalem and Ramallah on ‎Thursday and has already sent a team to Gaza.‎

Prime Minister Benjamin ‎Netanyahu held security ‎consultations with Defense Minister Avigdor ‎Lieberman and the IDF's General Staff on Wednesday and called a Diplomatic-Security Cabinet meeting for the evening. ‎

In the wake of the rocket attack, Lieberman ordered the closure of the Kerem ‎Shalom cargo border crossing and the Erez pedestrian ‎border crossing with Gaza.‎ The fishing zone off Gaza's coast, usually ‎6 nautical miles, has been reduced to 3 miles.‎

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, who is ‎currently attending a defense conference in the ‎United States, cut his visit short and was ‎making his way back to Israel on Wednesday. ‎

The rocket attack was the first in months ‎and the first to hit an Israeli home since the ‎‎2014 war between Israel and Hamas.‎

It came a day after Lieberman said ‎that after weeks of escalating violence along the border, the time had come to deliver a "heavy blow" to Hamas.‎

Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon called on ‎the U.N. Security Council to denounce the attack.‎

‎"The State of Israel received another reminder of ‎Hamas terrorism as the organization fired rockets at ‎Israel's south, one of them hitting a residential ‎home. This was the act of heinous, criminal ‎terrorists, who caused small children to run for ‎their lives to a protected area in the middle of the ‎night and suffer shock over the destruction of their ‎home," he said. ‎

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